JISC Collections 2009 Annual Conference and AGM
e-books and expectations
The media is all a buzz with e-books. We have Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, telling us that print 'textbooks are outdated', we have publishers in the US releasing new e-textbook initiatives for students and we have the battle of the e-book readers.
This buzz is raising expectations. Gartner, a research company that provides objective insight on IT, places e-book readers in the 'Peak of Inflated Expectations' as 'the devices still suffer from proprietary file formats and digital rights management technologies, which along with price, are limiting their adoption and will drive them into the 'Trough of Disillusionment'.
E-books, especially in education, are still a new technology and publishers, librarians and technology providers are all still exploring what users want, what will work and what won't work. Does this period of uncertainty, coupled with the media buzz driving user expectations, mean that e-books currently fall within Gartner's 'trough of disillusionment'? Findings from the JISC national e-books observatory project show that e-book platforms provide poor usability, digital rights management systems frustrate users, integration with library systems is cumbersome, students are totally confused by the library offering and there still isn't a critical mass of titles available or a central catalogue.
But it's not all doom and gloom, for we can utilise the vital insights into user behaviours from the JISC national e-books observatory project to develop the e-books market in line with expectations. We can also watch and learn how students and teachers use and benefit from access to a critical mass of 3000 e-books as provided through the e-books for FE project. We are set to move up the 'slope of enlightenment'!
Our keynote speakers
Our keynote speakers are Dr Hazel Woodward, University Librarian at Cranfield University and Chair of the JISC national e-books observatory project board and James Clay, ILT & Learning Resources Manager, Gloucestershire College.
Dr Hazel Woodward will present the key findings of the Observatory project looking in turn at what they means for users, libraries and publishers. Hazel will explain how responding to the findings in the project and proactively taking the recommendations forward is the next challenge and why this is necessary to reach the 'plateau of productivity'.
James Clay will look at the ways in which technological change is having an impact on the ways in which society communicates, accesses entertainment, receives information and how this will impact on learners and learning. Gloucestershire College is an exemplar in the way in which it uses technology to support, enhance and enrich learning. James will explore how the 3000 e-books fit in with the future of learning and how colleges and universities will need to be more responsive to the technological changes taking place.
Parallel Sessions
In addition to our keynote speakers, we will be running four parallel sessions. We decided that although e-books are the main theme, delegates may be interested in some of the other activities that JISC Collections is working on:
1. Business models for e-textbooks
This session will present the e-textbook business models that are being tested by libraries, publishers and aggregators in the UK. This study is assessing the management and economic impact of four e-textbook business models. It will be run by Albert Prior and Paul Harwood of Content Complete who are managing the study.
2. Digital images for education
Join Michael Upshall to hear about the Digital Images for Education project. Thanks to JISC funding, JISC Collections will be making freely available over 500 hours of film and 56,000 photos in summer 2010. Michael Upshall, project manager, will present some highlights of collections and welcomes feedback.
3. Licensing for museum libraries
JISC Collections recently worked to negotiate discounted prices for a range of specially selected resources on behalf of the London Museum Libraries and Archivists Group (LMLAG). Join Kate Sloss, Director of Collection Care at the Tate to hear about the motivations behind this project, its benefits and future aspirations for national licensing for museum libraries.
4. Catch up with JISC Collections
JISC Collections is running many projects that are of interest to members... developing a usage statistics portal, a single platform for archive content, digital presentation, presentation layers... all exploring ways to make things simpler and to provide efficiencies. Join members of the JISC Collections team to catch up with what's going on and what's coming up.
The AGM will be held during lunch. All members are invited to join the AGM.
We look forward to seeing you on the 19 November 2009. Please register your attendance and select the parallel session you wish to attend.